Cubs Opening Day Pitching Woes Expose World Baseball Classic Trend

The Chicago Cubs suffered a brutal loss to the Washington Nationals on Opening Day. After an offseason that gave hope to the Chicago fanbase, the Cubs will have to wait for their first win of the 2026 season.

One area in particular should give Cubs fans pause about this loss: the pitching.

Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd was ineffective. In 3.2 innings, Boyd gave up six earned runs. Although he struck out seven and walked just one batter, he gave up six hits, including a home run.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Boyd's struggles continue

This has been a rough 2026 so far for Boyd. In 9.1 spring training innings, Boyd struck out 12 batters, walking just two. However, he gave up nine earned runs, including three home runs. While looking sharp at times, Boyd struggled to keep the ball in the park, and that was evident in the Cubs' first loss of the season.

Boyd also participated in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA. While pitching just one game out of the bullpen, Boyd would give up three runs in 2.1 innings of work. Could this be an indicator of what's to come?

This could be the foreshadowing of an interesting trend among WBC pitchers. Boyd was scheduled to pitch more than one game for the United States before being named the Opening Day starter for Chicago, and subsequently exiting the WBC.

Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who made 1 start in the WBC: 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 6 runs https://t.co/jrCLvfbhLe
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 26, 2026

In addition to Boyd's underwhelming Opening Day start, San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb, who also pitched for Team USA, gave up six earned runs in five innings.

Reigning Cy Young award winner and Pittsburgh Pirate, Paul Skenes, also had an uncharacteristic start to the season, not lasting through the first inning.

While Skenes and Webb had excellent outings in the WBC, it's easy to wonder if Boyd's early-season performance is in some way related to his exhibition performance.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd (16) waits to throw against the Washington Nationals | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

This was an unexpected outing from Boyd. In 2025 with the Cubs, he was on the All-Star team, posting a 3.21 ERA in 179.2 innings.

It was a career resurrection of sorts for Boyd, who carries a 4.61 career ERA in 200 starts. This would be an unwelcome development for a Cubs team that figured to have an imposing rotation going into 2026.

Chicago's 2026 rotation will consist of Boyd, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon.

Horton will pitch the second game of the season against Miles Mikolas on Saturday, March 28, hoping for better results than his teammate.